


Life is a Game

by Blazonix



Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game)
Genre: End of the World, Tumblr: Writing-prompt-s
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-30
Updated: 2018-08-30
Packaged: 2019-07-04 09:52:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,323
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15838827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blazonix/pseuds/Blazonix
Summary: The whole world is like a game of Dungeons and Dragons. You're the DM of the world.His childhood days were spent training to be a knight that could slay even the worst dungeon bosses. Now, however, those dungeons were slowly warping from castles and glittering caves to buildings made up of mirrors and metals.In this new world, he only has one question on his mind.Where are the gods?





	Life is a Game

 

Adan Renaut cannot say exactly when the world changed to its current form, but the helicopters flying overhead were a testament to the fading of dragons and magic. His childhood days were spent training to be a knight that could slay even the worst dungeon bosses. Now, however, those dungeons were slowly warping from castles and glittering caves to buildings made up of mirrors and metals.

In this new world, he only has one question on his mind.  _Where are the gods?_

"They fall silent. Their voices have disappeared as if they have never existed to begin with," the elven cleric whispered amidst the crackling of the campfire. "Something else is granting me my power."

The party grew wary and silent at those words. Not long after they had gotten their hands on one of the last remaining treasures, they all went their separate ways. The idea to dissolve the party had started with an offhand comment about a cousin that needed a banker, but soon everyone had a job they wanted to do.

None of those jobs involved adventuring.

Adan would be a hypocrite to blame them. He, too, had something he'd like to do, and it did not involve raiding a dungeon. Unlike the others, he kept his plans to himself. They would call him mad, or worse, try to come along.

Where he was going would surely lead to death, and the others needn't kill themselves over his curiosity. Unlike him, they were not part of a dying past; his companions had the power to adapt to this new, strange world even if they were loath to do so.

He could not adapt like them. At heart, Adan Renaut was a knight that flew on dragon wings with a sword wrapped in flames. He had one last grand quest to undergo: to find the one responsible for the world morphing into an entirely new one.

He was going to find them; whomever they were, whichever god it was, he was going find them and ask  _why_. It would be a quest for the ages. It would be his quest.

Adan wished he could say that he found them straightaway after climbing the tallest mountain, or locating a god after a series of dungeons that contain clue after clue.

He wondered if it would still be considered an epic quest since he had found the person he was looking for by complete accident; though he had not recognized them as his mission objective when they appeared before him.

He could hardly be blamed for his poor judgement. A short, round human woman eating dinner in a bar was hardly his first guess as the one responsible for shaping the world.

He had gone to where the change had been first seen and to which was now considered the heaviest altered place in the world. The human city once known as Wakeful City had now changed to New York City. Its tall, shiny buildings had replaced the stone and mortar ones.

Walking amongst all this new architecture felt similar to being stabbed by a venomous beast, but Adan was not one to give up upon being stabbed and poisoned. He kept his wits about him and went to the best place for information: the bar.

The city had several bars in which he could gather information. He questioned his way to the first bar that had showed changes. He stared at the bar's name written over the door in a glowing bright, red light. He squared his shoulders and walked in.

"Do you want a seat at the bar or a booth?" A cheery woman greeted him.

"Bar," he said after a careful glance over the place.

"Follow me," the woman chirped.

He was lead to a counter made of metal and wrapped in the same bright, red light from outside the bar. He took a seat on a strangely shaped metal seat that was welded to the floor. His armor made it slightly awkward, but he was no stranger to finding ways to sit in chairs not made for him.

"Order when you're ready," the woman said before rushing away.

He had been looking over the menu made of slippery paper with some distress when the portly woman next to him leaned over.

"You should get the whiskey hamburger and a beer. That's the best," the woman said.

Though he hadn't realized it, this was the beginning of the end of his life. Eating a hamburger and drinking a beer while discussing the news, he would muse later, was not exactly how he imagined himself going out.

"I'm trying to find the one responsible for the world changing," he finally said after an hour of useless inquiry.

He stared into the remains of his beer with a bitter expression. He missed the suspicious choking and flailing of his bar companion entirely.

"Why? What makes you think it's a person?" The woman asked.

"The gods are gone, if they were ever real to begin with. No demon lord has this power, and the magics are fading to nothing. Still, there seems to be some design to this madness. How could it be anything other than a person?" Adan said ruefully. "I simply want to ask them a question."

"I see," the woman said and wiped her hands on a napkin, "alright then."

He had intended to pay, nod a polite farewell, and leave for another bar. For reasons unknown to him at the time, he froze upon seeing the woman pull out a strange gem embedded with numbers from her pocket.

"Time to cheat then," the woman muttered, "you walked into the bar trying to find me. I explain that I'm the person you're looking for. You believe me instantly. Roll."

How loud that gem sounded when it hit the countertop.

"What magic is this?" He asked, breathless.

"You're going to follow me home because I don't discuss work outside. Roll."

Neither his mind nor his body responded to him. He followed her out the bar and down the street. No one ran after them for not paying. Cars stopped for them to cross the road, and people moved out of the way without a word. He knew without a doubt this was someone worse than any god.

"I live in the penthouse. Got to have something good for my trouble," the woman muttered after leading him to the tallest building in the city.

If he was still in control of his nerve, he would have lost it at the elevator. Adan knew magic; this contraption had none. The ride to the top was the longest silence he'd ever had the misfortune to hear.

The doors opened to a single door facing the elevator. The woman flung it open without unlocking it. He assumed for someone as powerful as this being, there was no fear of thieves.

"Home sweet home," the woman said sourly.

He expected many things in the lair of a god-like creature. He did not expect a massive amount of papers pasted to every spot of a seemingly normal living space.

He stood in the doorway as the woman moved a stack of papers out of a chair. Cursing, the woman swept up scattered papers from the floor. She rushed to give him a clear path to walk.

"Here, have a seat," the woman gestured to the now clean chair.

He found himself able to move under his own will once more. Warily, he entered the domain and sat himself onto the luxurious chair. He had no reason to refuse.

"Alright. Ask your question," the woman said and cleared a spot for herself on the couch.

This was it, he thought, this was the end of his last quest. To think the only thing he did was get a bite to eat.

"Why?" He asked without hesitation. "Why change the world?"

"I wanted a hamburger."

The answer stunned him. Speechless, he looked upon the woman who simply stared back without shame. The woman heaved a great sigh after he tried and failed to say anything more.

"Look, it was a domino effect. I wanted a hamburger, so I changed a few things so I could get a hamburger. I started wanting something else, so I changed something else. I got to admit, it got out of hand," the woman told him. "I just gave up and started a new campaign."

Worse than a god indeed. However, her words struck him as strange.

"Campaign?" He asked.

"You know, the world. Everything in it. What towns are in it, the technology, the races, and so on," the woman said; her hand waved in dismissal.

For a second time, he felt his breath leave him. Her words were careless, but they spoke of the woman's true power. That she could change the very fabric of reality on a whim.

"Who are you?" He asked, afraid for the first time in ages.

The woman seemed to ponder over his question. 

"I'm Jessie," the woman said, "and I am your Dungeon Master. Your DM you could say."

The words unsettled him. The woman with her innocent appearance unsettled him. There was nothing to suggest that the human in front of him was capable of feats greater than that of the gods.

He would have never dreamed that this normal-looking woman was unbeatable. Her invincibility was certain since Adan hadn't been able to draw upon his weapons or items from the moment he met her.

"So this is it. Our lives do not matter," he sighed.

It was admittedly a bit disappointing that this was the truth he longed for. That no matter how much he wanted to fight against it, Adan's way of life would be swept away without hesitation because of a hamburger.

"Kind of. Your life is a game, but you're still a player. Not that I know how to play myself," Jessie muttered.

"Game?" He asked, trying not to cover his face in grief.

How odd that the woman across from him seemed to be feeling the same way. What could grieve this Dungeon Master so?

"You don't understand. Nobody does," Jessie said, rubbing her face. "I never actually played the game. I don't know what I'm doing, and all I've got is this twenty page guide."

He could make no sense of her words. The only thing he could be sure of was that neither of them was happy with their place in the world.

"Why did you choose to reveal yourself?" He queried.

"You're the first person that showed up to ask. It makes you special," Jessie answered him with humor.

He supposed that was significant enough to a whimsical being such as her. Not that he can blame her; he has had many adventures due to his own flights of fancy.

"Perhaps not special enough," he said wryly. "I cannot live in this 'new campaign' of yours. I cannot exist without magic. It is impossible."

It was not a complaint that left his lips but a fact. As much as it may chafe at him, he can bow his head to one more powerful than he. After his many successes, Adan Renaut has finally lost the game.

"Old-fashioned, huh?" Jessie mused. "What if I gave you a new job that had magic written all over it?"

"Such as?" He dared not hope, but if anyone could change his fate, it was the DM.

"You could be my bodyguard. Divine protector has a ring to it, and you can't get more magical than this," Jessie gestured around her domain.

He had to admit, she had a point. Protecting a god's avatar was a noble living for a knight. Though he felt uneasy at the thought of living in such a foreign world, perhaps he could ignore it in favor of doing his duty.

"Hang on, I'll get you your character sheet. Name?"

"Adan Renaut."

Jessie struggled up out of the couch that had suctioned her to it. He watched as she went through a stack of papers taller than her that leaned against the window. The incredible view wasn't completely hidden as the window was as big as the wall itself.

He wondered if that view was to be his new normal. If metal and concrete was something he'd just...get used to.

"Aha, found it!" Jessie shouted with triumph.

She straightened up the papers into smaller piles while keeping one held between her lips. He watched with anticipation as Jessie plopped back down onto the couch; she picked up a pen and a book next to her. Something told him his current self would disappear the moment she started writing.

"Actually, I've got a better idea," she paused, setting the pen down. "I'm giving you free reign. Do whatever you want with yourself."

Adan had no idea what she meant. Jessie struggled back to her feet, and strode over to him to wave the paper in his face. He grabbed it as well as the book and pen she held out to him. The words "Adan Renaut" stared up at him. Listed under that was a summary of himself, his background, and a list of skills.

"What is this?" He asked, dumbfounded.

"That's your character sheet. That's everything that's you. You can write or rewrite anything you want. As DM, I'm allowing you to change yourself. Go wild or just add divine protector to yourself. I don't care," Jessie said with a laugh.

No matter how hard he gripped the paper, it never crinkled. Realizing what he could have potentially done to himself, Adan carefully laid the paper atop the book. He juggled the items in one hand and took a deep breath. He held the pen over the paper.

It was the end of one life, and the beginning of a new one. But this time, Adan can say he changed his world by his own hand.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not a hundred percent certain you can call this D&D fanfiction, but I promised my beta to post it somewhere other than tumblr. Here's to you, Ina.


End file.
